Interactive communication via online video systems

Abstract

Embodiments include systems and methods that enable enrichment and sharing of online content between users. These systems and methods provide mechanisms that allow users to author and overlay metadata as transparent containers on already existing data containers within models of the online content, as well as to create relational connections between people and objects across the web by communicating the overlaid online content. The metadata and relationships may be collected from user-authored input by overlaying virtual transparent screens over the online content. The virtual transparent screens enable the users to share the content by visually marking, or otherwise indicating, locations of interest on the content through the virtual transparent screens. The users may then author input related to the marked locations to be placed in the transparent containers associated with the marked location. The enriched content is then processed and rendered to other users through the transparent containers.

Description

RELATED APPLICATION(S)[0001]This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62 / 423,838, filed on Nov. 18, 2016. The entire teachings of the above application(s) are incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND[0002]The advent of social networking sites and the proliferation of mobile devices have increasingly impacted the way content consumers discover, share, and engage with online content. While these sites and devices facilitate the sharing of content, they continue to impose serious limitations on the contextual sharing of the content, as well as, the granularity with which users can share the content. Currently, the sharing of content is facilitated by these sites and devices by allowing users to embed hyperlinks pointing to the content onto their social network pages, or attach such hyperlinks to messages sent to other users through messaging applications. Thumbnails of the shared content are then rendered on the sharer's social networking page, if the c...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0006]Embodiments of the present disclosure enable enrichment and sharing of online content between users. These embodiments provide mechanisms that allow users to author and overlay metadata as transparent containers on already existing data containers within models of the online content, as well as to create relational connections between people and objects across the web by communicating the overlaid online content. The metadata and relationships may be collected from user-authored input by overlaying virtual transparent screens over the online content. The virtual transparent screens enable the users to share the content by visually marking, or otherwise indicating, locations of interest on the content through the virtual transparent screens. The users may then author input related to the marked locations to be placed in the transparent containers associated with the marked location. The enriched content is then processed by an application back end service and rendered to other users through the transparent containers.

[0007]Some embodiments include an application (plugin) that enables the user to overlay the authored metadata on the already existing data containers (e.g., HTML objects) within the webpage structure of the content. To do so, the application, which may be part of an online content communication engine, overlays the transparent containers onto existing data containers of the webpage structure. The transparent containers are used as input receptors through which a user may directly select or mark the content through the display device. The overlaid transparent containers provide a virtual transparent screen over online content being viewed on the webpage by a user. The application further enables a user to select the transparent screen to mark, or otherwise indicate, a portion of the online content and share information regarding the marked portion of the online content with other users. The application also receives shared information from other users regarding a portion of the online content. The application visually marks, or otherwise indicates, on the transparent screen over the received marked portion of the online content and presents the shared information regarding this portion of the online content to the user. In some embodiments, the marking on the overlay is similar to pointing on a television screen.

Problems solved by technology

In this way, through current sites and devices, online content is shared in its entirety, and the sharer's ability to select and share specific segments of the content, or point to specific locations within the shared content, is not possible.

As such, a sharer providing comments regarding the specific segments or locations of the shared content is also not possible.

That is, users with whom the content is shared in this manner are limited to engaging with the content devoid of intra-content comments.

As a user is enjoying viewing online content of their choosing (e.g., video, images, audio, or such) via a communications network, the user is usually limited in his / her interactions with other users (friends, family, peers, and the like) in relation to said content.

This issue is especially true in asynchronous situations where the first user and the second user are viewing the content at different times.

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